Festival Strategy Advice

Do you need help crafting your festival distribution strategy? Show Me Shorts is here to help struggling filmmakers. We have just introduced a new Festival Strategy Advice service, to assist Kiwi filmmakers planning cinematic world domination.

If you’ve got a short film close to being completed you may be finding it difficult to plan your festival distribution strategy. Especially in light of so many festivals being cancelled or postponed this year. We are here to help!

Show Me Shorts has been part of the international short film ecosystem for more than 15 years. We would like to share with you the benefit of our extensive knowledge and experience. We regularly attend film festivals globally at all levels including A-list, mid-tier and new/emerging festivals. We have a vast network of friendly colleagues that we can call on to further extend our abilities to help you create a tailored festival strategy that will vastly increase your success.

We know, because we go.

The Show Me Shorts Festival Strategy Advice service is available to short film makers in New Zealand, Australia or the Pacific Islands. For a fee of NZ$200 (+ gst), we will review your short film and draft festival plan. We will provide you with detailed, tailored feedback and advice that will enable you to maximize your success with festival acceptance.

In light of the current Covid 19 pandemic, many festivals are cancelling, postponing and moving online. Let us help you navigate this shifting territory, as we have insight into the latest updates about festival date and format changes.

What do I get?

Short films often take years of hard work and creativity to make. If your festival strategy is out-of-step with your film (mismatched or too ambitious), you will struggle to get the festival success you want.

Here’s what you can expect from our Festival Strategy Advice:

Use of our Draft Festival Strategy Spreadsheet to help you get started.

Professional evaluation of your film and marketing materials.

Customized written feedback on your festival strategy.

Help avoiding entering one of the many fake or scam festivals by mistake.

Ask all the questions you’ve been wondering about submission platforms, marketing materials and more!

We are offering advice, this not a distribution service. You will still have to submit your film and pay the relevant fees for whichever festivals you select.

How do I apply?

If you have a short film in post-production, preferably around the picture-lock stage this is the best time to talk to us. This service is only available to filmmakers who are citizens of, or based in New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific Islands. Your short film must not yet have premiered, and be under 20-minutes in duration.

Create your draft festival strategy using this spreadsheet as a template (your own version of this is fine too). Note the festivals listed in our template are just examples and you will need to do your own research as there are many excellent festivals not listed that could be a better fit for your film.

Complete the submission form. You will need to include the completed spreadsheet, synopsis, a password protected link to the latest cut of your short film, a short (1-paragraph) director’s statement and written explanation of your strategy, and three images.